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Summary

Isolated and well-built hut circle standing on a level site above the crest of the steep slopes of the Dart River. Internally the hut measures c.9.1m by 8.6m and it has a solidly constructed double-faced wall composed of large contiguous earthfast boulders and moorland slabs. The south side is overlaid by a 1.2m high coursed granite newtake wall and at least two large outer-facing boulders of the hut are incorporated within it. The maximum width of the hut wall is 1.8m and the largest boulder is 1.4m long, 0.9m high and up to 0.8m thick; there is little trace of the stone infill which may have been robbed when the newtake wall was built. The position of the entrance is not clear.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1003190: Hut circle 150yds (140m) NE of Moorlands Farm

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67SW60
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443419
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/22
• Old SAM County Ref: 749

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HUT CIRCLE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Worth, R. H., 1945, The Dartmoor Hut Circles, 231, Figure 4 (Article in Serial). SDV246120.

Hut circle north-east of Moorlands Farm of 9 metres diameter opposite prince hall. The walls are ruined by the activity of stonecutters who removed stone.

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs, 2149 4429-30 (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Photograph taken on 11th June 1947.

Worth, R. H., 1953, Dartmoor, 104-5 (Monograph). SDV231148.

The hut circle at Moorlands, dissected for small stone by fence builders, has an internal diameter of 28 feet and wall thickness of 6 feet. The wall has a stone face on either side (thick slabs or post-like stones being used) and the space between these faces was filled with soil and small stone. The internal face of this wall is always flat.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX67SW60 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV233897.

(11/02/1980) Above a northeast slope at 338m. OD is a Type 2 (SX 56 NE 71) hut circle in poor condition. The level interior measures 9.4m. in diameter within walling 1.3m. wide, the inner facing incorporating boulders up to 1.8m. in length and 0.8m. in height. (see ground photographs). The hut has been much denuded for the adjacent modern wall, and no entrance is visible.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500 for AO Records.

Robinson, R., 1982, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV342809.

Site visited on 22nd January 1982 and 10th August 1982.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP (Cartographic). SDV319854.

Visible on aerial photograph and recorded.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit, M. J. Fletcher (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(07/01/1988) SX 62617364. The remains of this apparently isolated and well-built hut circle stand on a level site above the crest of the steep slopes of the Dart River. The area to the south is now enclosed pasture and the slopes to the north and east are covered by large scattered earthfast boulders; there is no surface evidence of walling associated with the hut.
Internally the hut is c.9.1m by 8.6m and it has a solidly constructed double-faced wall composed of large contiguous earthfast boulders and moorland slabs. The south side is overlaid by a 1.2m high coursed granite newtake wall and at least two large outer-facing boulders of the hut are incorporated within it. The maximum width of the hut wall is 1.8m and the largest boulder is 1.4m long, 0.9m high and up to 0.8m thick; there is little trace of the stone infill which may have been robbed when the newtake wall was built. The position of the entrance is not clear.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 216, Map 63 (Monograph). SDV337765.

Moorlands Farm was probably the site of the final settlement between the reave and the river but its only relic are the remains of a substantial hut circle just outside the present field wall.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Half circle shown on survey.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015-2017, 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV361462.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

'Hut Circle' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1003190 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This monument includes a stone hut circle situated on the crest of a hill forming the steep southern valley side of the West Dart River. The hut circle survives as a substantial ring of double orthostatic faced and rubble filled walls measuring up to 1.3 metres wide and 0.8 metres high enclosing a circular level interior with a diameter of up to 9.1 metres. There is no clearly defined entrance. The hut circle has been overlain on its southern side by a substantial coursed newtake wall which incorporates some of the orthostats from the hut circle.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8631 - Moorlands Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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